Share this article

It is all to commemorate the two brief stopovers by the Fab Four back in 1964 when they changed planes at its small airport.

Strong: The Beatles ¿legend¿ has endured in the sleepy town of 4,925 people and grown women still weep at the memory of that fateful day. John Lennon seen here on the day.

Somehow the ‘legend’ has endured in the sleepy town of 4,925 people and grown women still weep at the memory of that fateful day.

But for Beatles observers Walnut Ridge has become little more than a laughing stock that is desperately trying to cling on to the only interesting thing that ever happened there.

Former musician Bob Tucker, who was part of the Beatles' opening act on that tour, Bill Black's Combo, said: ‘The Beatles were there for about 15 minutes!’

He added jokingly that what they were doing was ‘the biggest stretch in the history of show business’.

It was one quiet night in 1964 that
three teenagers came home claiming they had just met the world’s most
famous pop stars as they landed at the rickety air field near their
homes.

Nobody believed them until a pilot staying at a motel let slip that they were right.

The
Fab Four made a connection in Walnut Ridge en route to taking a holiday
at a dude ranch in Missouri, and came back via the same route as they
made their way to New York.

Upon their return they were mobbed by hundreds of fans - but stayed on the ground for just a few minutes.

Now there are hopes that tourism officials can capitalise on what amounts to the briefest of possible brushes with fame.

On
the event's 47th anniversary the town unveiled led a metal sculpture of
the Beatles in the style of the album cover of Abbey Road.

They also hosted a concert by Beatles impersonators Liverpool Legends and tracked down the 1962 GMC Suburban two of the band used to get around the airport.

Walnut
Ridge resident Kathy Hall, who was 12 at the time, was thrilled when
her father got all four Beatles to sign her copy of their latest album
‘Something New’ when they made their one and only visit.

Immortalised: The sculpture modelled on the 'Abbey Road' Album cover in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas unveiled on September 18th

Legend: It was one quiet night in 1964 that three teenagers came home claiming they had just met the world¿s most famous pop stars as they landed at the rickety air field near their homes

Now aged 59 she told the Wall St Journal: ‘If someone offered me a million dollars, I don't think I would sell it.

‘The Beatles weren't even there long enough to drink a cup of coffee. But that time is very special to me.’

According
to the Wall St Journal Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the two
surviving members of the Beatles, were invited but did not show up.